For over a century, various Presidents have sought to reorganize and streamline agencies and make government smaller, if only slightly. Let’s face it: Nothing could help a presidential candidate more while campaigning for re-election than being able to tout that “THEY” were able to accomplish this insurmountable task of actually cutting government down to size.
For months, Donald Trump echoed, “I’m going to cut the Department of Education, I’m going to get rid of the EPA, I’m going to eradicate the swamp,” all to thunderous applause and, in some cases, standing ovations. In hindsight (looking at his re-election numbers), the American people agreed that at least some of this needs to be accomplished. The question now becomes, “Can he actually do it?“
Enter Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
To sell this much-needed process and the promise to the American people (to vote for him), Donald Trump decided to announce to the world that he was bringing a chainsaw to America’s bloated spending. Who better knows how to manage a budget than the $100B man? In addition, we will bring in another mental genius whose wealth also exceeds stratospheric levels for most people. Theoretically, between these two, they can gut waste out of the nation’s bank account.
BUT CAN THEY?
According to this outstanding article written a few years back, this may be much easier said than done. The not-so-small roadblock to a President’s whims and desires lies on Capitol Hill and with the United States House of Representatives. It will be Congress who can defund an agency to capitulate to President Trump’s campaign pledge of shutting down the Department of Education. While Elon and Vivek can make a strong argument for doing so, IE: “We don’t need the DOE, as every state already has an Education Department,” it has to be Congress who decides not to fund them next year. In the end, it is Speaker Mike Johnson, Congressional Rep’s Chip Roy, Jim Jordan, and yes, even Rashida Tlaib and AOC who decide how our American dollars are spent.
And herein lies the problem for Trump, Congress, and DOGE (Elon and Vivek). Let’s use a swing state as an example. Arizona House member David Schweikert represents House District One in the Phoenix suburbs of Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, and Paradise Valley. Most of this area is relatively affluent, with Scottsdale being very wealthy. The State of Arizona has approximately 110,000 certified teachers. Mesa, Tempe, Paradise Valley, and Scottsdale are primarily residential, so this area has many teachers. What happens if Schweikert comes out and supports the gutting of the Department of Education? Consider this: He (Schweikert) only won his election in 2022 by a little over 3,000 votes in a heavily registered Republican district. His re-election was not much different, although the numbers have not yet been certified for 2024.
How many of the Congressman’s constituency are teachers? Undoubtably thousands. Granted, not every teacher is a Democrat. But are there enough to swing an election? Quite possibly. And Arizona is not alone. You have Republican congressional reps around Dallas/Fort Worth, the suburbs of Denver (where it is very Red), Minnesota, and many other locations. With only a three or four-vote margin in the House, there is almost no way that Trump, Elon, and Vivek can defund and shut down the Department of Education. The same is virtually identical to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With so many in California, Montana, Colorado, Minnesota, etc., being hyper-environmentally aware, these Republican legislators are not about to come out in support of “NOT” protecting the environment. (said tongue in cheek, but true)
To further prove the point of the monumental task of cutting government, hypothetically speaking, what would happen “if” Trump and DOGE were able to gut some of the massive bureaucracy? What will several hundred thousand “new” unemployed look like? Remember that “most” of these people reside in and around Washington, D.C… What will this do to the real estate market in the D. C. area when all of these “tens of thousands” now unemployed can’t make their house and car payments?
While Trump Nation (or the MAGA faction) wants to take a club to the baby seal, the prudent thing might be to do this slowly, work the Republican side of the aisle, and take a small pairing knife to this issue rather than come straight out of the box and begin a slash and burn approach.
An accounting system known as Lean Six Sigma was designed to cut waste. Many corporations and even some municipalities have implemented Lean Six Sigma to eliminate waste and fraud from their budgets. When I asked the inventor of this system back in 2008 how much he could cut from our spending, he told me he could cut upwards of $900B in waste without even trying. That was an actual quote.
Can Elon and Vivek accomplish curbing spending by reducing fraud, waste, and duplication? Absolutely, and they will be heroes for doing so. But don’t get your hopes up that they can eradicate agencies. The likelihood of Congressmen being willing to wipe out entire sacred cow agencies is highly unlikely, even though this is Trump’s desire.
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